Mechanism for gongs, &amp;c.



No. 868,221. I PATENTED 001 15, 1907.

- H. E. REEVE. v MECHANISM FOR GONGS, 8w.

APPLICATION FILED 001229. 1906.

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PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. REEVE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MECHANISM FOR GONGS, &c.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15, 1907.

Application filed October 29, 1906. Serial No. 341,033.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY E. Rnnvn, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings,State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMechanism for Gongs and the Like, of which the following is a full,clear, and eXact description.

My invention relates to electro-mechanical gongs.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a reliable andefficient mechanism by which a powerful stroke may be effected and whichmay be released electrically.

Another object is to prevent injury to the mechanism in its ordinaryoperation.

Another object is to minimize the wear resulting from ordinary use.

Another object is to minimize the power required to operate themechanism.

The invention consists in improvements, the principles of which areillustrated in the accompanying three sheets of drawings.

The relation between the gong and the striking apparatus, and theconstruction of the latter, is of importance, as will be more fullyunderstood from the following specification.

Figure 1 shows a fragment of a gong, together with the strikingmechanism and supporting base and protect ing case, the cover beingremoved. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, one side of the case being removedto show the interior mechanism. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken atright angles to the view shown in Fig. 2, but omitting the gong. Fig. 4is a detail of the main hub of the striking mechanism. Fig. 5 is asectional view of the same, taken on a plane at right angles to the viewin Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail view of part of the stop device. Fig. 7 isa plan view of the striking mechanism similar to Fig. 1, but on a largerscale, parts of the driving train being shown dotted. Fig. 8 illustratesthe hammer action on an enlarged scale.

The base 1 is adapted to be secured to any suitable form of support, andcarries the ordinary gong 2 which is customarily parallel to the base.The case 3 surrounds portions of the mechanism to prevent the entranceof dirt and injury as well as tampering with the parts. A

The hammer 4 is hinged at 5 on an axis at right angles to the axis ofthe shaft 6 and normally pressed downwardly by the spring 7. The hammershaft 6 is pivotally'mounted in the top plate 8 and bottom plate 9 of aframe which is supported in the case 3. The main spring 10 has the outerend secured to the frame and the inner end secured to the winding shaft11,

which also carries the ratchet 12. The main driving wheel 13 is looselymounted on the shaft 11 and carries a spring-pressed pawl 14, whichpermits the spring to be wound up by rotation of the shaft 11, butcauses the tension of the spring to transmit movement to the drivingwheel 13. Wheel 13 meshes with pinion 15 on shaft 16, which shaftcarries gear 17 which meshes with pinion 18 on the hammer shaft. This isthe ordinary winding and driving mechanism.

The hub-like member 19 forms a part of the hammer shaft 6 and has ashoulder 20 which in the normal position of rest bears against theshoulder 21 of the stop member 22, so that the shaft and hammer are heldfrom rotation. lever 23 pivoted at 24. V The .latch member 25 is pivotedat 26 on an axis parallel to the axis of the lever 23, and has a tooth27 normally engaging the end 28 of the lever and holding it stationary.The latch member 25 is preferably under the tension of a spring 29,while the stop lever 23 is held in its normal position yieldingly by thespring 30, which acts through the medium of the plunger 31 carried bythe hub 19.

The latch member carries an armature 32 adapted to be attracted by theelectro-magnet 33 when it is desired to release the hammer for thepurpose of sounding the gong. It will be noted, however, from aninspection of Fig. 7, that when the armature 32 is attraeted toward themagnet 33 and the end 28 released from the hook 27, the hook 34 isinterposed in the path of movement of the end 28, so that the stop lever23 has as yet no substantial movement, although the lever is underpressure of spring 30. When the magnet is denergized, however, thespring 29 pulls the armature and latch member so as to release the end28 from the hook 34 and cause the incline of the hook 27 to engage theincline of the end 28 and permit the stop lever 23 to be tilted in ananticlockwise direction by the action of the spring 30 and plunger 31.This disengages the shoulder 21 of the stop 22 from the shoulder 20 ofthe hammershaft hub 19, so that the hammer-shaft is free to rotate andswing the hammer in a clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 1).

It will be noted that in the position of rest the hammer 4 is normallybelow the edge of the gong 2, so that when it begins to rotate it passesunder the edge of the gong. If the hammer were permitted to rotatefreely under such conditions, it is apparent that it would never strikethe gong. Inorder to accomplish the striking action a stationary cam 35is provided, which tends to raise the hammer as it rotates, v

so that it will strike the edge of the gong and then be permitted tofall into the position shown in Fig. 2,

The stop member 22 is carried by a.

at which time the shoulder 20 engages the stop 22. In order that theupward swinging movement of the hammer may be as gradual as possible,and so as to minimize the force required, so as to avoid wear of theparts, I have inclined the hammer-shaft 6 so that the hammer may beginto rise on the cam almost as soon as it begins to rotate and in thearrangement shown, while it is underneath the gong and still avoidcontact with the edge of the gong as the hammer swings outwardly. I havefound it economical and satisfactory to incline the entire frame anddriving and release mechanism carried thereby relative to the base 1 inany suitable manner, for instance, by means of a wedge or support 36.hammer in full lines in the position of rest, and in dotted lines in thestriking position.

It will be noted that when the hub 19 has rotated far enough todisengage the plunger 31 from the stopthe tail 38 of the stop lever andswings the lever back into its normal position where the end 28 isengaged or latched by the tooth 27 ofthe latch member 25. Con tinuedmovement of the hub 19 brings the plunger 31 into engagement with theback of the stop lever 23, so that the plunger is forced'slightly inwardand begins to press against the stop lever. The shoulder 20 of the hubthen strikes against the stop shoulder 21 and brings the hammer andhammer-shaft to rest. In order to accomplish this without shock, I havemounted the stop 22 so that it may slide on the lever 23, but haverestrained its action by a spring 39, so that the stop action is ineffect yielding instead of abrupt. To preclude any possibility ofexcessive movement of the stop, and consequent accidental release of thehammer, I may provide a stationary abutment 40, against which the stop22 may strike to limit its movement when the shoulder 20 of the hub 19engages the stop shoulder 21. It is, however, impossible for such actionto take place when the gong is in position.

The surface 37 of the hammer shaft hub prevents the stop lever frombeing moved by the action of plunger 31 when returning to its normalposition, even if the stop lever happens to have been released from thelatch a second time during the first stroke of the hammer. The cut backportion, 41, however, permits the lever tail to move for a second strokewhen the first stroke is completed.

It is obvious that the shape and size fof thel-gong is unimportant, andthat the inclination of the hammershaft is relative to a perpendicularto the plane of the Fig. 8 shows the cam with the.

edge of the gong. The point of contact of the hammer on the gong is alsoimmaterial.

What I claim is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a gong, a hammer,a shaft therefor, having its axis inclined relatively to aperpendicularto the plane of the gong, and a cam for supporting saidhammer, the supporting face of said cam having a gradual inclinationthrough substantially its entire periphery,

2. An apparatus of the character" described, comprising a gong, ahammer, a shaft therefor having its axis inclined relative to aperpendicular to the plane of the gong, driving mechanism therefor, astop lever for said mechanism and a yielding stop carried by said leverfor bringing the hammer to rest.

3. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a gong, a hammer,a shaft therefor having its axis inclined relative to a perpendicular tothe plane of the gong, striking mechanism, a stop lever therefor, ayielding stop carried by said lever, and an abutment for preventingexcessive movement of said stop. I

l. An apparatus of the character described, comprising strikingmechanism, including a gong, a hammer, a shaft therefor having its axisinclined relative to a perpendicular to the plane of the gong, a pivotedlever, a yielding stop carried thereby, a pivoted latch for said lever,and an electro magnet for operating said latch.

5. An apparatus of the character described, comprising strikingmechanism, including a hammer and shaft there for, a hub on said shaft,a stop lever, a latch therefor, a cam on said hub, and a springpressedplunger carried by said hub, said cam and plunger cooperating with saidlevel.

0 An apparatus of the character described, comprising striking mechanismincluding a hammer and shaft therefor, a hub on said shaft, a stoplever, a latch therefor, a tail on said step lever cooperating with saidhub, said hub being adapted to hold said lever in engagement with saidlatch throughout a portion of the hubs rotation.

7. An apparatus of the character described, including a hammer shaft, ahub thereon, a plunger carried therein, a stop lever engaging saidplunger, and means for releasing said stop lever.

S. An apparatus of the character described, including a rotatable hub, acam thereon, a lever, a tail on said lever coacting with said cam and astop yieldingly carried by said lever, and adapted to be engaged by saidhub.

9. An apparatus of the character described, including a rotatable hub, ashoulder thereon, a lever having a yield ing stop, adapted to be engagedby said shoulder on the hub, a spring-pressed plunger carried by saidhub normally pressing against said lever and means for returning saidlever to the engaged position.

10. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a gong, apivoted hammer, a shaft therefor having its axis inclined relative tothe axis of the gong, said hammer shaft being adapted to rotate upon itsaxis to cause the hammer to strike the gong.

HENRY E. REEVE.

Witnesses L. VREELAND, ROBT. S. ALLYN.

